The Last Letter
by Utsusemi
Summary: I admit it, I'm guilty of writing a sappy fic. I swore I would never! Unfortunately, opportunity called and I ended up writing about Rikash's last letter to Maura. So, here it is.


Disclaimer: Roses are red, Violets are blue, I no own, So you no sue!  
  
Author's Notes: I intended to post this on Valentine's day (thus the poem), but the site was on read-only mode. Which is, by the way, my typical luck. This is set a year after Daine has been in Dunlath, but before the Immortal's War is over. It's a really sap-filled fic, so be warned. Thanks for reading this, since it's the reader's who decide whether my writing is tolerable or just makes you want to puke. (Plug! Plug! Please read my other two fics, Legacy and Spades!)  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
Maura had just come back from speaking with Iakoju and the other ogres. They had been discussing giving land for the ogres to farm on in return for a portion of the bounty, which, quite honestly, was something Maura had never found very interesting. But it was still something she had to deal with, since her sister was gone. Now she was preparing to go speak with several men from the palace on the subject of the black opals still left in the mountains. Would she ever be done with these boring talks?  
  
Wiping her forehead with a cloth, Maura sighed and put on one of her most elegant dresses, in hope of impressing these men from the palace. She was only twelve, but perhaps she could command enough respect to convince them she could handle this. At least, she thought she could.  
  
She was about to leave when a bright eyed eagle glided through the window. Laughing, Maura put on a glove and allowed the eagle to rest on her forearm. Within its grasp was a thick roll of parchment, yellowed from old age. Realizing it was a letter, Maura plucked it from the bird, and set it on her desk for later reading. As soon as she had set the letter down the bird rose from her arm and flew out the window. Maura agreed with the bird, it was time to go. She would deal with the letter later.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
The talks with the palace men had not gone well. Plunking herself on her bed, Maura relived the awful scene from not twenty minutes before.  
  
(Flashback scene)  
  
"We believe that this fief has a supply of black opals in its mountains. Is this true?" A tall man, grey within his long black beard, asked her.  
  
"Yes, my lord. It is true." Maura had learned that if she wanted to keep her fief she would have to hold back her natural instincts to start snoring during this awful convention, even if she knew much of the conversation would consist of these two men beating around the bush. "We believe you to not be ready to handle such a responsibility." The shorter man began, proving Maura wrong about her assumption the they would avoid the main subject. "We feel it would be in your best interest, and our own, if you would appoint someone to control the fief until you get older."  
  
"What?" Maura had sputtered, "That's impossible, I've been doing a fine job!" She insisted, "It's not fair, you can't do that!"  
  
"We can and we will. You must choose someone by the next moon, or you will be forced to forgo the title as Lady of this fief." Turning on his heal, the taller man had made what Maura had expected to be a long and boring conversation into something much shorter, and much more surprising.  
  
(End flashback)  
  
"They barely even let me get a word in!" Back in her room, Maura began to cry. "How dare they just take this place from me! Who will deal with Iakoju while I'm gone, and all of the animals!" Pounding the bed with her fists, Maura smothered her face into her pillow, and eventually cried herself to sleep.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
Upon waking, Maura found that a servant had placed a basin of warm water in her room for her to bathe in, along with a soft pink dress for her to wear to breakfast. Glaring at the dress, Maura wanted to tear it to pieces.  
  
She did bathe, but only briefly rather than the twenty minute soak she usually indulged herself in. After that she threw the dress out the window, watching with satisfaction as it landed in a puddle at the base of the castle. Taking out a pair of breeches and a simple shift, a plan formed in Maura's mind. If the palace didn't want to listen to why she should stay in control of Dunlath, she would make them, by going to the palace herself and dragging the king to listen to her. She smiled as she thought of what Yolane's reaction would have been to this plan.  
  
After thinking of what to bring, Maura settled upon several pairs of breeches and plain white shirts, along with a single blue dress to wear when she reached the palace. She also brought along a day's supply of food, but hoped that she would be able to scavenge food with help from what she learned from the animals. Upon a moment's thought, she also took the letter, still unread, in case it was from Daine.  
  
Outside she went to the stables to look for a horse to ride, knowing that it was more than far enough on horse, let alone on foot. She finally settled on an old friend, Rebel, who was more than fast enough and could endure long distances. She only hoped that she wouldn't fall off his bony backside. Placing the saddle on carefully, Maura silently prayed to the Goddess that they would listen to her at the palace.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~ The sun had just set when Maura decided to break for the day. Looking up at the dark sky, she realized that there was no turning back now. Her stomach ached for warm food as she first took care of Rebel and then set down to eat cold rolls and a slab of dry meat.  
  
'Perhaps I should have stayed,' she sighed, almost on the brink of tears, before realizing what that would have meant. 'No, I'm doing this. For the good of my fief.' After she had eaten the last crumbs of the rolls, she began to read the letter that had been left unattended for so long. Expecting it to be from Daine, Maura was surprised to recognize the untidy scrawl as Rikash's writing. (AN: The letter parts are supposed to be in itallics, but the computer is evil and won't work, thus anything in quotes is the letter, anything not is Maura's thoughts on the letter) "Dear Maura," "I suppose that you're quite busy right now, what with learning to be polite, and all of the rubbish that your race seems to be determined to learn in order to hide behind it while plotting to kill your own. I don't believe I'll ever understand the use of having three spoons at a dinner when your hands will do fine for your kind. Or why you eat such strange things (Honey? Plants? Who enjoys eating those things?). The human race is one that makes little sense.  
  
I suppose that you are well and content in your castle these days as well. Perhaps you are dealing with the latest strange animal in your fief, or dealing with those awful bores, the hurrocks. I suppose I should hope that they don't give you much trouble, but my guess is that if they don't you'll go looking for it. You always were the type to get into the worst of situations if you weren't watched constantly. Gods know that I thought the worst of your companions during the last few days I was at Dunlath. Unfortunately, your companions seem to have taken to speaking to me these days, and have even called upon me for favors in the oddest of situations."  
  
Maura grinned at the last few sentences; she knew that Rikash had hated Daine, and vice versa. She wondered what sort of favor Daine had asked Rikash for, and wistfully thought he should have said in the letter. Instead he continued on in a vein similar to the first paragraph, discussing her health and other benign subjects. Maura sensed that he was avoiding something, and wished he would just get on with it.  
  
"Have you been eating properly as of late? I assume nothing that I would consider edible. Most humans consider us to have rather gruesome diets but I don't see how you can stand eating scorched rabbit with its entails ripped out. I certainly don't think I could stand eating such a meal. Strange, the difference in diets, yet both consider the other's to be repulsive. I do believe I've been around that Daine far too much; I'm becoming much more open minded as of late, which has begun to irritate both me and my fellow stormwings."  
  
Whatever it was that Rikash was avoiding, Maura wished he would get over with it. It was obvious that he held no real interest in human foods, and she knew that normally he wouldn't have bothered to drawl about such dull subjects.  
  
"I was curious to know if you missed flying at all since I've been gone. I doubt the hurrocks allow you on their backs, and I know you enjoyed it while I was there. Or, at least, I thought you did. It's been on my mind for a while, did you really enjoy flying? Perhaps you... No, never mind." Why was he acting so strangely? It bothered Maura that he seemed so...preoccupied, in a way.  
  
"You may have heard of the latest news on the situation between Tortall and Carthak, the land that your sister was sending the black opals to. War has been declared, and though I don't know how updated you have been, you should be told that I am - though I loathe to admit it - on the same side as your despicable friends. Stormwings take sides and switch daily, often at first siding with Tortall only to later choose to side with the Emperor.  
  
"I worry about my allies in this war. Our numbers continue to diminish, which means a greater chance of dying for each who continues to side with us. But I cannot go to the other side. The Emperor has done the unforgivable and to side with him would only mean the defeat of my honor. Is this not ironic? I, Rikash Moonsword, worrying about honor. And I thought my ancestors were sentimental for choosing such a name!  
  
"Death is a sad thing, even for those who feed on the aftermath of a battle. Perhaps you ought to know that for the time I knew you, I felt that you were like my own child. Should I die, I ask you remember that I cherished you like a daughter."  
  
As Maura read the last lines, she felt an odd feeling rising in her chest. She had never felt close to her father, and her mother had died years ago, and, if anything, she hated Yolane. But now she had someone who valued her, cared for her. That in itself was something she thought she would never have. As she stared at the contents of the letter, words blurred together slowly, and before she knew it, tears had smeared the words together. Before long she was crying uncontrollably, and eventually fell asleep, sitting in front of the dying out fire - parchment still in hand, tears still in her eyes.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
Author's Notes: I have never been this sentimental in my life. Ever. I didn't even cry during Titanic (nope, I laughed), but I almost cried during this fic (and I was writing it!). Please, pleasepleasepleaseplease review this, and if I get enough reviews asking me to, I may even continue the story on Maura, so REVIEW (and tell me if you thought Rikash was too OOC in this fic, something I'm very worried about). Thanks! 


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